Abigail Ruhman
Health ReporterAbigail Ruhman is a member of KERA's specialty beats team as its Health Reporter. Abigail was previously the statewide health reporter for the Indiana Public Broadcasting News Team, covering health policy. They graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s in journalism and a Bachelor of Arts with a dual emphasis in sociology and women's and gender studies.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas was one of more than 35 districts participating in an annual, national effort to address healthcare fraud. Thirteen North Texas defendants were charged in connection to more than $365 million in alleged fraudulent billing. -
State officials and UT Southwestern Medical Center on Tuesday unveiled Texas' newest state hospital, the first in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Texas Behavioral Health Center joins ten other facilities — nine state hospitals and one youth residential treatment center — to provide care for hundreds of Texans with serious mental health issues. -
TORCH CIN, a physician-hospital organization representing 45 rural and community hospitals across Texas, announced Friday it will end its contracts with UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company over "unsustainable" reimbursement rates. The leader of TORCH CIN said the current rates pose an "existential threat" to rural hospitals. -
With millions expected to travel to North Texas for the FIFA World Cup, researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington said it could offer valuable insight into how big events effect air quality. As the region grows, one researcher said that insight could help local officials make decisions about how they try to improve air quality. -
Soccer fans from around the world will be coming to North Texas this month for the FIFA World Cup. Local health leaders have been preparing for the influx of people for about a year and a half. Hospital and public health officials say what they’re doing hasn’t changed much, but how they do it has. -
Health care is the largest and fastest growing industry in Texas — but the workforce isn't growing fast enough to meet increasing demand. Workforce shortages are getting worse, according to testimony from state officials during a House Committee on Public Health hearing. -
Starting this fall, UNT Health Fort Worth will offer a new pharmaceutical sciences PhD program — the first of its kind in North Texas. The school said the new program could help address workforce needs as the life sciences and research and development industries continue to grow in the region. -
State data shows more than 40,000 pregnant Texans waited more than a month for the state to process their Medicaid applications — with more than half waiting more than 60 days. An advocacy group said delays in applications getting processed can combine with issues getting appointments and can lead to delayed prenatal care. -
Dallas launched its RIGHT Care Program in 2018 to divert people experiencing a mental health crisis from hospitals and jails, when appropriate. Now, the program is testing out two teams that expand those services to mental health related 911 calls that involve children and adolescents. -
The Department of State Health Services said it was notified two Texans were on the MV Hondius but "did not have any contact with a sick person while aboard the ship." -
Texans with disabilities can wait almost two decades for certain Medicaid programs. During a House Human Services Committee public hearing Tuesday, advocates and some state lawmakers said they worry what long wait times mean for the nearly 200,000 Texans on "interest lists" for services. -
The agency that oversees behavioral health and social work providers has about 1,000 “pending” complaints against providers — hundreds more than it has received in previous years. Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council leadership told lawmakers it may need support from the state to handle the volume.
